


Holly / Ivy

by JazTheBard



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Ambiguous Second Age Timeframe, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Holidays, Kidnap Dads, Reunions, Songfic, Tolkien Secret Santa, eldritch peredhil, i didn't mean for this to be songfic but here we are, just a little bit. as a treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28172184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JazTheBard/pseuds/JazTheBard
Summary: It's snowing in Imladris! An unexpected visitor arrives to make Elrond's holiday season even better.Or, wintry reunion fluff.
Relationships: Elrond Peredhel & Maglor | Makalaurë
Comments: 39
Kudos: 104
Collections: Tolkien Secret Santa, Tolkien Secret Santa 2020





	Holly / Ivy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [potatoesanddreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/potatoesanddreams/gifts).



> this is my secret santa fic for potatoesanddreams!
> 
> okay this has a lot of music so i made a spotify playlist for it [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/42HLwNPGHi34hSoFRJfz3r)
> 
> the songs, in order, are "Green Growith the Holly" by Henry VIII, "Holly, Ivy, & Yew" by Heather Dale, and "The Holly and the Ivy" which is a traditional carol (that i changed a word or two in)
> 
> okay so fun story i was listening to the cherry tree carol on repeat (the good version of the melody not the choir one) while writing this so. i may have accidentally made elrond jesus? at least in that song's context. whoops!

Elrond hummed as he walked through the halls of Imladris, causing candle-flames to dance and sprigs of greenery to brighten and a poinsettia flower to bloom as he passed by.

The hum gave way to murmured words as he went outside, a small wind causing him to shiver.

"Green grow'th the holly," he sang absentmindedly, admiring how the pale winter sunlight caught on the falling snow, "so doth the ivy..."

At their names, the nearest holly tree bent towards him ever so slightly, and a vine of ivy reached to brush his arm. He smiled and continued the song.

"Though winter's blasts blow never so high, green grow'th the holly," he finished. Despite the cold, he was happy to be outside in the fresh air. There was a sort of peace that came only when the winter snows blanketed the world in white, a sort of silence found only when sound found itself gently muffled by the snow, as if any more than a soft noise would profane the scene.

He began the first verse of the song as he crossed the small courtyard. "As the holly groweth green, and never chaungeth hue..." It always took him longer to walk across snow than anyone else, for he could not quite stay atop it as most elves did, and always sank a slight amount.

At least if he tripped and fell out here while not looking where he was going, he'd only have the snow to deal with; just days ago he had fallen into the bonfire at the center of the valley. He'd come out unscathed, of course (for fire had declined to burn him for as long as he could remember), but his robes had been irreparably charred.

He had no destination in mind as he wandered the area, still singing softly to himself.

"So I am, ever hath been, unto my lady true..." His mind wandered, and he felt his face heat at the thought of his own crush on Lady Celebrían. He might not be the sort for love songs, and he certainly wouldn't be singing her any, but it was hard not to imagine.

He felt someone cross the border of the valley, and the few plants still awake -- holly and ivy, of course, and pines and other evergreens -- and the rivers and the very earth began to sing, in their strange way, of a visitor.

Elrond followed the song of the valley as it reverberated through him, curious as to who it might be.

He returned to the chorus of the song as he walked, seeing no reason to stop now.

But when he saw the visitor, he did indeed cease his song.

It was Maglor.

His long-lost foster father had returned to him! He could have cried tears of joy, but something was not quite right. Maglor looked to be in pain, standing awkwardly and clutching his arm.

Elrond therefore resisted the urge to run over and hug him.

Instead, he crept forward cautiously and said, "Are you alright? You look hurt."

Maglor began to back away, but stopped as he put weight on his right foot, wincing. "Forgive me, I didn't know where else to go," he said. "I thought -- they said you would heal anyone. I can leave after, I won't stay, I just thought it was worth a try if you'd heal anyone, even -- even if it's me."

Stunned into silence, Elrond stood still. Did his father really not know how much he'd missed him, how hard he'd looked? How could he think that his own son would turn him away  _ ever, _ much less when he was injured?

Maglor must have taken his wordlessness as rejection, for his face shuttered. "I'm sorry. I should have known better; I won't return." He gave a lopsided smile and moved to go.

"No, don't leave!" cried Elrond, reaching out to grab his wrist. "Of course I'll help you!"

Maglor looked at him with wide eyes. It broke Elrond's heart to see him so surprised by this.

"Stay," he said. He tried to smile. "I would almost be offended if you went to anyone else!"

"What?" said Maglor, allowing himself to be gently tugged towards Imladris proper.

"Didn't you always say I was a great healer? And I've waited so long for you to come back. I missed you so much!”

Maglor still looked confused.

Elrond gave up on trying to express himself in words and instead, very carefully and mindful of his father’s injuries, enfolded Maglor in a hug.

“Like I said,” he murmured, “I missed you. I’d almost lost hope that you would return, but I’m so happy you have, despite what brought you here.”

Maglor tentatively hugged back. “I love you,” he said, his voice soft. “If I had known -- if I had known, I would have returned to you much sooner.”

“Enough of that,” said Elrond, letting go and blinking away the oncoming tears. “You’re hurt, and it’s cold. Now come on, let me get you to the healing wing.”

He stopped at the nearest tree -- one that was not asleep for the winter, thank goodness -- and asked for one of its branches for a walking stick.

The tree, which had quite a few branches and was fond of Elrond, happily obliged and bent down to give him one, and Elrond sang the wood into a more usable shape so that Maglor could walk better.

As they made their way towards the buildings, which seemed much further away than they had before, what with their pace, Elrond began singing again. First in a hum, but the words spilled out so naturally he could hardly stop them.

“As the holly groweth green, with ivy all alone...”

Maglor joined in (of course, for he had taught Elrond the song in the first place). “When flowerys cannot be seen, and greenwood leaves be gone,” he sang, and broke off. “Speaking of, I very much doubt that any potential visitors from Greenwood the Great will be too pleased to see me.”

“They left two weeks ago,” said Elrond. “No need to worry about that.”

“Small blessings.”

They walked in silence for a time.

“So, how did you get hurt?” said Elrond.

“Very large, very angry wolf,” said Maglor. “And I got injured even more in the running away from it.”

“Sounds awful.” A thought struck him. “How did you manage to find Imladris? You can’t have just wandered in.”

“Oh, someone told me the way once. Goodness knows why they thought I was trustworthy, but apparently I looked like someone who needed to know where it was.”

They reached the healing wing at last, and Elrond began his work.

* * *

Maglor, worn out from his journey, fell asleep. Elrond dozed off in a chair in the healing wing, and the night passed.

The trees outside the window, greener than ever, bent in close to shade them from the early morning light, and a tendril of fast-growing ivy snaked in to lay itself gently upon Elrond’s arm.

He blinked his eyes open and looked over to the bed.

It hadn’t all been a dream!

Another familiar song ran beneath the surface of his thoughts, pushing to be sung.

He went to the window and sang it quietly, so as not to wake anyone.

"...the thorns upon the holly, and the creepers of the ivy and the bending boughs of yew!" He hummed the tune that the fiddles usually played between verses, and continued. "The Queen with rooted wisdom, like the holly and the ivy..."

He made his way through most of the song, while the plants outside the window grew as he watched, before Maglor awoke.

“Atto,” he breathed, and rushed over. “How are you feeling?”

Maglor reached up to cup his face with a scarred hand. “Oh, this is real. I was not sure.”

“I had the same thought when I awoke!” said Elrond with a laugh, clasping his hand. “If you feel well enough to walk, come with me to breakfast, won’t you?”

“You’re sure my presence won’t be a problem?”

“Do you forget how many of your people came to me when you disappeared? If there’s a fuss at all, it’ll be the positive kind,” Elrond said. He stood and offered a hand.

Maglor took it and stood up with some effort, and the two of them went outside into the blaze of morning sunlight on freshly fallen snow.

Elrond smiled and closed his eyes before taking a step. It was far too bright for him to look, but he had no fear of crashing into something; he could be conscious of every inch of Imladris if he wished.

(This did not, unfortunately, make him immune to clumsiness or tripping on his own robes, as the recent fire incident had proven.)

With the warmth of the sunlight on his face, he felt another song rising to the surface, this one nearly as joyous as he felt to be reunited.

“The holly and the ivy, when they are both full-grown,” he sang, “of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown!” The nearest holly tree bent down and crowned him with a wreath, and tendrils of ivy wrapped themselves to bracelets around his wrists, causing him to open his eyes to look.

He abruptly remembered why he usually tried not to do this in public.

“O, the rising of the Sun, and the running of the deer! The playing of the merry harp, sweet singing in the choir!”

Singing was all very well when the subjects of the song were unlikely to respond, but this was just embarrassing. At least no deer had spontaneously appeared or come running, drawn by the song.

Maglor smiled at him, and of  _ course _ he would. He’d always called it adorable when Elrond and Elros sang a little too well and the trees and rivers decided to remind them they loved them.

And, right on cue, “You look so cute in your crown,” said Maglor, reaching out to adjust it.

Elrond gave a halfhearted glare and closed his eyes again against the brightness while Maglor laughed.

Elrond reached out to take his hand anyway, reveling in being so close to his long-lost father again.

The warmth of coming indoors once more couldn't even begin to rival the cozy hearth-fire feeling all throughout his soul.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it! please leave comments and kudos if so :)
> 
> happy holidays and stay safe everyone!
> 
> In light of recent events: I do not consent to my own original ideas that appear in my fics being used without permission or without credit. If you are able to pick up ideas from my fic then you are certainly able to ask me for permission, and if you are going to publish, credit is REQUIRED.
> 
> This includes names such as elenyafinwë, aþelairë, and almatáru, as well as a number of other details and ideas that appear in my works.
> 
> If you are going to use my ideas for fic that excludes LGBTQ+ characters, for reasons religious or other, I do not give you permission to use them, even with credit.


End file.
